River Brew Review: Oskar Blues Pinner Throwback IPA

For the two of you who regularly read this blog (Hi Mom!) you know that I don’t really go in for IPAs, they just aren’t my favorite and who wants to read a negative review? I do make exceptions occasionally, and I made one recently for Oskar Blues Pinner Throwback IPA.

To be perfectly honest I wasn’t very interested in the beer, I just wanted to win an instagram contest that was being held by Gink and Gasoline. They were giving away incredible prizes for the best picture featuring a can of Pinner in a bunch of different categories. I wanted to win, not really for the prizes, but because I haven’t ever heard of a contest more up my alley than that one.

No Pinner, just brown trout! (and some babiators!)

Boy did I choke! We were in Crested Butte, CO at the time and I figured that I wouldn’t have a problem finding the beer, wow was I wrong. Three liquor stores later I was hanging my head in disappointment, no Pinner to be found and the trout category was out! Luckily we stopped for a bathroom break in some no name town in south eastern CO on our way to Houston, TX and found some Pinner. My hopes were back up! The plan: to catch an alligator gar in Houston and then ask the fish politely to eat a can of Pinner.

Unfortunately I struck out again. Due to big rains right before we got to town our money spot was blown out for our entire stay. We did brave the water mocasins, garbage, spiders and gators to go fish one day anyway, but luck was not on our side. We saw a few monsters and hooked something, but no fish were landed and the contest ended.

The high point of this story is that even though I didn’t win sick prizes showing how much I like beer and fishing together I did get to fish a lot and drink a six pack of Pinner. Win Win!

Appearance: Way lighter than I was expecting, looks like a darker lager. Clear deep gold with minimal bubbles. There was about 1 finger of head that quickly dissipated.

Smell: Very floral and hoppy, a little bit citrus and a little bit sweet.

Taste/Mouthfeel: This beer has a really nice feel, just bubbly enough, but not over carbonated. It has a nice body. The taste is a little hoppy for me, bitter with a touch of pine. There might be a hint of sweetness in there, but I have a hard time finding it.

Overall: Pretty good? I don’t really do IPAs, but I’ve had a couple others that I like better than this. But it is in a can, made by a cool company and goes down easy on a hot day. Definitely worth a look.